1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a collapsible trap. The invention has been devised particularly, although not necessarily solely, as a crustacean trap. The crustacean trap according to the invention is particularly suitable for trapping crabs, and more particularly mud crabs.
2. Background Art
A wide variety of collapsible traps are available for both recreational and commercial crabbing activities. The collapsible nature of the traps allows them to assume a collapsed condition for storage and transportation, and an erected condition for use.
Traps for crabbing are commonly referred to as crab pots and typically comprise a frame structure and netting attached to the frame structure. When such a crab pot is in the erected condition, the netting and the frame structure cooperate to provide an enclosure defining an entrapment zone into which crabs can readily enter but from which they can not readily exit.
The frame structure generally includes at least one peripheral frame configured as a ring. The peripheral frame is rigid and the netting can collapse against the rigid frame. Because the peripheral frame is rigid, it limits the extent to which the crab pot can be collapsed. While the netting can collapse against the rigid frame, the rigid frame in itself is not collapsible. Accordingly, the collapsed crab pot is of a size in the collapsed position corresponding to the size of the peripheral frame.
It is against this background that the present invention has been developed.